BY ROB

It’s been over two years since we brought you the first instalment in this series, where we take a look at the evolution of each club’s most cherished IP, the logo. The Panthers have had their turn, and quite frankly are getting plenty of headlines right now. So let’s turn our gaze to the most glorious club in existence, our beloved Canberra Raiders.

1982 – Inaugural logo

The Raiders OG logo was created in the pre-digital days, which is what gives this version its retro charm. From the off-kilter type-set on the outer ring to the shadowed, sketched appearance of the Raider’s portrait, every component of this logo is a somewhat slightly askew element that joins its companion pieces to form a beautiful masterpiece (seriously, even the yellow outer ring isn’t perfectly circular). It helps that this is the patch that adorned Raiders jerseys in all three of the club’s grand final victories. This logo stayed with Canberra all the way through their time in the NSWRL/Winfield Cup, through the Super League war (although it was absent from the Raiders one SL jersey in 1997 due to the ARL retaining the rights to club mascots/icons) and right into the first few years of the newly formed NRL.

2000 – Second logo

The Raiders logo received its first update for the 2000 season, a day and night contrast between it and its moustached predecessor. Indeed gone are the almost steepled swashbuckler lip accessories, replaced now by a fearsome two-tone beard and mane. The eyes are sharper, the helmet broader and sharper in design, with a small football icon tying it all together in the middle. This logo heralded the club’s forays into deeper shades of green, with some jerseys having more in common with the darker outer green lining than they did with the inner lime hues of yore. Heavily shadowed and stylised, this logo served the club for 19 seasons.

2019 – Third logo

After 19 seasons the 2000s logo finally received a long overdue update. Retaining the general design of the previous incarnation, this version saw the beard and mane drop down to a single shade of green, with the helmet’s horns slightly shortened and the football crest having its stitches reduced from 5 to 3. The Raider’s skin tones have been muted, and the black shading of the prior version has been switched for a deep navy blue.

2024 – Fourth logo

In 2024 the Raiders logo received its first true overhaul in over two decades. With the rise of social media and the arrival of the Raiders NRLW team the club identified a need to simplify and streamline its appearance in the modern digital age. This version retains the outline of the previous two but does away with all the trimmings – the beard and mane are now just three elements, the beard section cleverly deploying the shape of a love heart. The horns are now plain white, and the helmet has been distilled down to its most basic elements, the football crest now just a slight curve with no stitches. While it caused something of a ruckus upon its reveal last year it’s quickly grown on most fans as the icon for the next chapter in Raiders history.

So there you go, four logos in just over forty years. Do you think the current patch will last as long as its ancestors, or will the increasing pace of change mean a refresh will occur in the next few years? What will adorn the Green Machine when they lift the trophy again?

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